It is a well-established tradition that in October LTPSS will celebrate the Spanish Day. Last Friday the 18th of October, the Spanish Department put together a number of activities, both in class and beyond to allow students the opportunity to reflect on what it means to live in a global world and the richness of cultural diversity. The school hall was decorated with murals designed by students: S1s were working on a project which featured the 21 Spanish-speaking countries, and S2s were working on another project where they compared some regions from Spain to regions in Hong Kong.
On Friday afternoon, our school brought Hispanic culture in taste, colours, and sounds to transform the school into a wonderful Spanish-speaking venue. A series of activities occurred:
- During lunch time: MOK CHAN TOMMY GAI YONG (4S) and FUSET DOMINGUEZ NOM ALEXIA TERESA (4S), our exchange student from Spain, taught the students and teachers who attended two famous recipes: Guacamole and Pan con tomate. After explaining and demonstrating how to cook it, the attendees could try those delicious dishes made by our chefs. The recipe was also distributed, so everyone could make their own Guacamole and Pan con tomate at home. On the other hand, the ICT Department collaborated with the Spanish Department in creating an Arduino voice recognition module, so our students could practise how to say the colors in Spanish through innovative technology.
- The afternoon Hall session:
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- Musical performance: One of the highlights of Spanish Day is always the visit of the “Azúcar Latina”, our friends from Colombia, Cuba, Perú, Republica Dominicana and Mexico. Their performance of Latin American music hits like “Guantanamera” or “Oye como va” invited the audience to dance to the Latin rhythms.
- Rueda de casino performance: our Spanish team danced a rueda casino, that is when pairs of dancers form a circle, with dance moves called out by one person, a caller (or “líder” or “cantante” in Spanish). Many moves have hand signs to complement the calls; most moves involve the swapping of partners, where the partners move around the circle to the next partner. The combination of elaborate dance combinations and constant movement of partners create a visually spectacular effect. Thanks to our students BARRETT PHOEBE DIANE (2S), CHAN WAN SIN REESA (2S), BURGE DARREN JAMES (3S), KOTHARI SAHAJ (3S), ZHANG NG KEVIN (3S), CHAN LOK SZE DORIS (4S) for leading everyone to dance around the Hall.
- Magician show: The Cuban award-winning entertainer, José Almenares, is a long-time member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, and he performed a bilingual show including magician presentations like David Hopper-field the Bunny, Dogs on Silk…and much more.
- Poetry Performance: Our S5 student, Rebecca CHEN WAI KA, performed a modern poem by Gloria Fuertes (28 July 1917 – 27 November 1998) who was a famous Spanish poet as well as a children’s book author. It was a great use of the language in a brilliant performance!
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- Games and quizzes, all through the Spanish Fiesta hall session, the students could enjoy games and quizzes which helped to show how well they have acquired knowledge about Spanish.
- Mexican Piñata: this year our Piñata was shaped in the form of a tasty Spanish paella, which was inspired by the theme of our Spanish Day cooking and tapas. Some of our bravest students had the chance to hit the Piñata and the candy “explosion” made everyone very excited and happy!
We thank all the participants and guests, including PTA representatives who visited us to enjoy the good vibes of the very unique Spanish Day at our school.
